Johnston



(No Model.)

G. W. JOHNSTON.

JAB..

No. 339,556. Patented Apr. 6, 1886.

IJV' VEA/ TOR tto/wey,

njim-1 tierno STATES PATnNr trice@ GEORGE VASHINGTON JOHNSTON, OF FLEMINGTON, NEV JERSEY.

JAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,556, dated April 6, 1886.

Application filed September 12, 1885. Serial No. 176,874. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE WASHINGTON J oHNsroN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Flemington, in the county of Hunterdon and State of N ew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in J ars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates, primarily, to clay, earthenware, or, as more commonly designated, stone jars or vessels having a stopper; and the invention consists in certain details of construction for facilitating the molding of the stopper of clay, and of applying sealing mediums to the jar; and it also consists in means fixed to and accompanying the stopper for applying and removing the said stopper, all substantially as I will now proceed to particularly set forth and claim.

In the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure l is an elevation of the jar with its stoppcrremovcd. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the jar sealed. Fig. 3 is a vertical v section ofthe stopper detached, with the stopper-operating device in position as a lever or wrench; and Fig. LL is a section ofthe stopper at right mig-les to Figs. 2 and 3, with the gasket removed.

'Ihej'ar or vessel a may be made iu any approved manner, and'has the internally-screwthreaded neck b, the upper edge, c, of which is convex or rounded to form a seat for the stopper d. This stopper is provided with the cylindrical portion c, screw-threaded externally to match and engage the screw-thread of the neck b of the jar loosely, but still securely, and above the screw-thread on the cylindrical portion of the stopper is a groove, f, to receive a rubber or other gasket, g, and above this groove the stopper has an annular flange, IL, projecting outwardly sufliciently to extend over and cover the mouth of the neck of the jar, and on its under side, j, this ange is made concave to match the convexity of the edge of the neck of the jar, the gasket g being interposed between said concave under side of the ilange and the edge of the neck, so that when the stopper is in place in the neck of the jar the jar will be sealed airtight.

In order to overcome well-known difficulties in molding clay, in order to produce a good and operative screw-stopper, I make my stopper with the hollow k and curve the bottom Z upwardly. This construction enables the potter to produce an entirely practical stone screwstopper, accurate in workmanship and true in its iit.

Horizontal holes m m are made at opposite points in the iiange 7i of the stopper, to receive a stopper-operating device, n, which in this instance is a piece of stiff wire having one end vformed into a handle, o, and provided with a movable washer or other stop, p, arranged upon it on the inside of the ange, to prevent the loss or accidental displacement of said operating device. This device u is of greater length than the external diameter ofthe flange, so as to have projecting ends upon each side of the stopper, whereby iingenholds are obtained for use in operating (applying and removing) the stopper.

That portion of the operating device be tween the inside walls of the stopper and within the hollow k affords a handle for lifting the jar, and thus is obviated the necessity for a jar-lifter or attached bails. The hollow k in this case affords a recess for the reception of the operators ingers. Vhen the j ar-(such as a preserve-jar) is of such size as that its stop per may be grasped by one hand, the stopper may be applied and removed by the fingers engaging the projecting ends of the operating device; but when the jar is larger, as in snui` and mustard jars, the washer p may be moved toward the opposite side of the stopper, (asin Fig. 3,) and the operating device n withdrawn from one hole, or pulled out of such hole sufciently to afford a length adequate to grasp to employ said device as a lever in turning the stopper.

The stopper-operating device is a fixture thereon, and hence no wrench nor other eX- traneous opener need be looked up when a jar l groove, f,y in said stopper, combined with the vessel a, having an internally-screw-threaded neck and an edge to (3o-operate with the gasket and flange of the stopper, substantially as described.

2. The screw-stopper d, provided with the iiangc h, having the horizontal openings m, combined with a stopper-opcrating device, u, arranged in said holes and projecting beyond the stopper on either side to afford hand-holds for operating the stopper, and adapted to be partly Withdrawn to serve as a lever, substantially as described.

3. The screwstopper d, having the flange 71 provided with horizontal openings m, combined with a stopper-operating device, 11, arranged in said holes and projecting beyond the stopper on either side, and a washer or stop on said device to limit its range of movement in said holes, substantially as described.

4L. The screwstopper d, provided with the hollow k and iiange h, having the horizontal openings m, combined with the stopper-operating device n, permanently secured -in the holes in said flange and projecting beyond said ange on either side, to afford hand-holds for applying and removing the stopper, and straddling and co-operating With the said hollow to form a bail or handle for said stopper, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of September, A. 13.1885.

. GEORGE WASHINGTON JOHNSTON. Vitnesses:

J. Ross LAKE, GEO. FULPER. 

